Widow of the Future
by Faircade
Summary: After Harry Potter’s defeat at the hands of Voldemort, his widow, Ginevra Potter, is presented the opportunity to travel through time by Fides- Harry’s loyal phoenix. She can take only her soul- but Fides brings Harry’s Pensieve, and the deadly Goblin-mad
1. Prologue: Fides and Ginny

_**Widow of the Future**_

_by:_

**Faircade**

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J. K. Rowling. I am making no financial gain from this endeavor, nor do I intend to do so.

Summary: After Harry Potter's defeat at the hands of Voldemort, his widow, Ginevra Potter, is presented the opportunity to travel through time by Fides- Harry's loyal phoenix. She can take only her soul- but Fides brings Harry's Pensieve, and the deadly Goblin-made wand.

A/N: Published simultaneously on and

**Prologue: Fides and Ginny**

Time slowed for Ginevra Potter as she watched Fiendfyre burst from Lord Voldemort's wand and speed toward her dearly beloved. Harry James Potter attempted to redirect the Fiendfyre with a large wave and swoop of his Goblin-made wand, but it was of no avail. The Fiendfyre had taken the shape of the fiery fiends for which it was named, and while some of the innumerable host that Voldemort had conjured turned away from Harry, others came on full force. Voldemort laughed as fire consumed his arch-foe in a matter of seconds.

Thunder sounded and lightning flashed in the distance as the Fiendfyre that Harry had diverted continued to dance around Ginny and the laughing Dark Lord. Ginny felt as if her heart had been ripped out and destroyed. A sickening feeling threatened to overwhelm her as she crawled toward Harry's earthly remains- a pile of ashes. The wind from the coming storm began to blow and she watched as Harry's ashes were gradually sifted away.

The blowing wind revealed a gleam of light among Harry's ashes. It was his wand, the ones that the Goblins had crafted for him in honor of Harry's alliance with the survivors of the once proud Gringotts.

Ginny retrieved the wand from the ashes and examined it. The bright platinum exterior of the wand was cool to the touch. The veins of dark and clear crystal inlaid into the platinum glowed with an eerie light and she could see minuscule fiery fiends dancing throughout the crystal veins. The wand had absorbed the Fiendfyre and had become stronger for it.

An insane smile crept across Ginny's face as she gathered her resolve. Voldemort was going to die, and if he didn't, then at least she would be with Harry.

Adrenaline surged through her body and Ginny stood, ignoring the pain in her legs and torso from her numerous wounds. Fresh blood ran down her arms and face from injuries that she had received in the battle. Her long red hair was stirred by the wind as she stood tall, prepared to challenge the Dark Lord. Voldemort stopped laughing as he noticed Ginny Potter, every inch a queen, staring at him with vengeance in her large brown eyes.

Before Voldemort could react, Ginny raised the Goblin-made wand and waved it in the air, forming some sort of complex pattern and as she swished it one last time, she hurled a powerful curse at Voldemort, magnified ten-fold by the power of the wand.

The world exploded and Ginny watched with apathy as a particularly large shard of rock flew toward her. Before it hit her, a white phoenix appeared, grabbed hold of Ginny's shoulder and with her, disappeared in a puff of flame.

Ginny and the Phoenix appeared in remains of Hogwarts. The phoenix dropped Ginny onto the floor of what had once been the Headmaster's office, next to the fireplace. A strange chirping noise from it caused a fire to ignite in the fireplace.

"Harry's dead, Fides," Ginny said to the phoenix as it flapped its wings and landed on the former perch of Fawkes the phoenix and began to trill a very mournful tune. "He's dead." she repeated to herself quietly as she began to cry. She cried for a long time, until she fell asleep next to the warm fire, albeit on the hard stone.

When she awoke next, Fides the phoenix was still there, watching her. This struck Ginny as being odd. She remembered that Fawkes had departed when Dumbledore had been killed. She had assumed that Harry's phoenix would do likewise. "Why are you here?" she demanded with a quavering voice as she stood up from her spot on the floor, hardly expecting an answer.

A lilting voice, resembling that of a little girl sounded inside her head. "There is still a chance to save Harry and crush Voldemort."

Ginny was not buying it. "Harry is beyond dead." she despaired. "I saw his ashes."

The voice of the phoenix changed from that of a child's to the voice of a grown woman. "That's irrelevant." Fides' voice informed her.

"No it's not!" Ginny argued petulantly . "He's gone. You can't bring people back from the dead."

A voice of power roared in Ginny's head. It was not the voice of any child or woman, it was the voice of a goddess, an angry goddess. "How dare you tell me what I can or cannot do, child! I am a phoenix. I am Fides. I lived millennia before will live for many millennia beyond your time in this world . I intend to change history and by thus doing, spare Harry Potter's life. If you love Harry Potter, you will do what I tell you to do and be grateful for the opportunity to be reunited with him. Furthermore, since you will be granted that opportunity, you can stop feeling sorry for yourself. Do I make myself clear?"

It was Ginny's nature to be quite defiant when faced with opposition, but the phoenix's aura and power had overwhelmed her and beaten her into submission. Ginny was well into her twenties and had been an adult for sometime, but she felt like a child. In the face of this she had no choice but to admit that the bird was a superior being of some sort.

Remembering Hagrid's lessons about showing magical creatures respect, Ginny sank to her knees and stared at the ground. If she could bow and show proper deference to other magical animals, she could kneel and show respect to Fides, a phoenix that she had thought she knew.

In a small voice she addressed Fides. "I understand and apologize. If you intend to somehow save Harry, I will do whatever it is you would have me do. I love him and am willing to suffer any amount of agony and even death for his sake."

There was a silence for several moments and then the lilting, childlike voice of Fides came to Ginny's mind again. "Take the goblin-crafted wand to the Chamber of Secrets. You will find a small pool of Basilisk venom near the carcass of the great monster. Dip the tip of the wand in the venom and hold it there until the wand's entire platinum exterior is dark as night and shines as obsidian. Return here with the wand.

"Very well." Ginny said as respectfully as she could, even though Fides was no longer exuding power and majesty.

Ginny looked around and found the goblin-made wand near where she had lain. She retrieved it and exited the office, going down the staircase that no longer moved. Eventually she found her way to the dreadfully familiar girl's washroom.

Moaning Myrtle was still there, mourning in her stall, or rather- what was left of it. Ginny ignored the ghost and found that the Death Eaters' destruction of Hogwarts had broken open the wall leading to the Chamber.

Ginny descended through the pipe, making her bloodstained robes even more filthy and found her way to the Chamber. The doors to the Chamber were closed. A few Reducto curses from the Goblin-made wand solved that problem. Ginny was too focused on the task at hand to be impressed.

She entered the Chamber and made her way to where the dead Basilisk lay. There was a very small pool of Basilisk venom near it, just as Fides had detailed.

Not wanting to waste any time, Ginny took the goblin wand and dipped its tip into this small pool. She gasped as the wand turned to ice and began to freeze her delicate hand. She stared at the wand, silently pleading with it to darken and shine, fearing what would happen if she had to hold on to the wand for too long.

Pain shot up her arm as the wand got colder and colder. Ginny began to whimper and then just as she was about to give up hope, the small pool of venom began to smoke and the wand began to lose its platinum color, albeit slowly. Her joy was quickly consumed by the increased pain in her hand that was spreading up her arm. She began to sob as the wand finally started blackening. Her thoughts turned to Harry and she clung to them for her courage to hold on.

Ginny's hand and the arm up to the elbow began blackening too which escalated Ginny's suffering and she began to scream. Suddenly, the pain stopped and Ginny's wails were cut short. She looked down and realized that her blackened hand and arm were dead and could no longer feel the pain that the transforming wand had been causing.

Gingerly, she used her other hand to hold the dead appendage in place so that the wand stayed steady in the venom and watched curiously as the wand finished its transformation, trying not to shudder at the feel of her dead flesh.

After what seemed like eternity, the wand became dark and shiny and ceased its transformation. Ginny stood, withdrawing the wand from the venom. Using her living hand, Ginny knocked the wand out of her deadened Hand which was still clutching it. It fell to the ground and she stooped to pick it up with her living hand and studied it.

The crystal veins embedded into the platinum had not changed. The dark crystals seemed to be blacker than the now darkened platinum and the light crystals glowed an even brighter white than ever before. The wand seemed heavier, and a it radiated a deadly aura. One who found themselves on the wrong side of this wand would likely not live to tell the tale.

Remembering the phoenix's instruction to return with the wand, Ginny hurriedly made her way back to the Headmaster's office and found Fides waiting. Apparently the phoenix had gone on its own errand, for Harry's original wand of Holly and phoenix feather was there, as well as Harry's private Pensieve.

The phoenix looked at Ginny's arm. "You will think your sacrifice a small thing, in time." the phoenix said, its' lilting voice echoing in Ginny's head with a somewhat sympathetic tone.

Fides continued her explanation. "The wand absorbs whatever force or energy is used against it. The clash between your love for Harry and the venom's essence put the wand under extreme duress. Not only is it now the most powerful wand currently in existence, it now possesses many useful properties that you will come to appreciate, perhaps later than sooner."

Ginny nodded. Thoughts of her deadened arm had been put out of her head in favor of curiosity concerning the next step of Fides' plan. "What is next?" she asked.

"We will travel through time." Fides answered. "Your soul will return to the summer before Harry Potter's first year and supplant your original soul. You will retain your knowledge, power, and skills, though you will be a child. Shortly after you arrive, I will arrive. I will bring with me the goblin-crafted wand, the Pensieve, and your own personal wand from this time."

"What do we do then?" Ginny wondered.

"You will have to decide what to do and when." the phoenix explained. "I have already interfered more than I should by speaking to you and making this endeavor possible. I will simply be a normal phoenix upon entering the past. I will come and go as I please, though when you have need of my magical abilities, you may summon me by calling my name."

Ginny nodded silently, already considering her potential options. The phoenix interrupted her with some last counsel. "Remember these three things most of all. First- counsel with Harry in all your actions regarding him. He will not thank you for manipulating his life, no matter how much you love him. Second- if Harry has not mastered magic before he touches the Goblin-made wand, it will master him. Wait for him to both have a grasp on magic and have a need for the wand before presenting it to him. You may use the goblin-made wand if you need to, but always remember to whom it belongs. Last- do not show Harry the contents of the Pensieve unless he asks. You may tell him of the future, but do not show him unless he has a desire."

"I will remember these things." Ginny stated in a sober voice.

The phoenix did not respond to this, but then began issuing instruction to Ginny to prepare for the travel through time. "Place your wand and the Goblin-wand in the Pensieve."

Ginny nodded and walked over to the half-destroyed table that the Pensieve rested upon. She gingerly placed the Goblin-made wand into the Pensieve. She then withdrew her own wand from her robes. It had only been made a few years previous, from one of Fides' tail feathers. It had been a gift from Harry and was one of her most prized possessions. It too went into the Pensieve.

"Take Harry's original wand and conjure a sharp dagger and a small bowl." Fides directed.

Ginny did so.

"Use the dagger and the bowl to collect a small amount of my blood." the phoenix instructed.

Ginny gasped. "That's wrong! That is the Darkest of magic."

"Not if I told you to do it." Fides explained patiently. "That is the key to sending your soul back to time. Phoenix fire will consume your body and push your soul outside of existence to punish you when you touch the tip of Harry's original wand to my blood. Your soul, full of pure intent and love, will be immune to the power that tries to destroy it. I will then be able to have your soul sent to the past."

Nodding with mute understanding, Ginny took the dagger with her living hand and made a small cut on the phoenix's body. She quickly put the dagger down and collected the small amount of blood that emerged from the wound with the bowl.

By the time Ginny looked back at Fides, the wound had healed, leaving no trace. Fides flew over to the Pensieve with the two wands in it and gripped it with her talons and then flew up. Ginny then heard the voice of Fides in her head. "When I am gone, touch Harry's wand to my blood. The pain that will follow will be terrible, but know that in moments, you will awake and find your family around you.

Ginny nodded mutely and then Fides disappeared in ear-shattering burst of energy and fire, leaving her alone in the abandoned Headmaster's office.

Ginny moved to the table that had held the Pensieve and placed the small bowl of blood on it. Using thoughts of seeing her family and Harry again, she drew up the courage to touch the wand to the phoenix blood.

The wand exploded and suddenly Ginny was on fire. She would have screamed in agony, but she blacked out before she could think to.


	2. Chapter 1: The Once and Future Husband

**Chapter One: The Once and Future Husband**

Ginny was waking up, but it was painful in a way. It was as if her brain was too small or slow to process everything she was thinking or worried about. Realizing that this was probably exactly the problem, she tried to relax and stem the tide of thoughts and concerns that threatened to overwhelm her.

This turned out to be the key. Her senses began returning and she could hear voices around her. The voices of her family. Her heart leapt for joy. Fides had succeeded! She could hear the twins whispering to themselves mischievously. Her father was saying words to Ron and her mother was speaking to someone with an unfamiliar voice. She chose to focus on her mother's words, and as she did so, she could make out the conversation.

"But what is wrong with her?" Molly Weasley demanded, quite agitated but trying to be civil.

"I don't know ma'am." a male voice responded. Whoever it was, he sounded embarrassed for not knowing. "Are you sure you've told us everything?"

Mrs. Weasley's answer was shrill. "I've told you everything. I was in the kitchen. She was in the other room. We were having a conversation. I asked her a question and she didn't respond. When I walked into the other room I found her lying on the floor, unconscious."

"Was she engaged in some sort of task? Are there any magical objects of questionable nature in the room?" The other voice asked.

"There are no Dark objects in my home!" Mrs. Weasley declared, sounding very offended. "Why would you say such a thing?"

There was a rustling of parchment before the man answered. "Our examinations and tests indicate that there may be something wrong with your daughter's right arm."

Ginny felt her self jerk in shock. Her arm? Surely it wasn't still destroyed! Forgetting her composure and effort to stay calm, she immediately attempted to move her hand and arm. She felt her right hand open and close, and her arm bend at the elbow but it didn't feel right. It felt strange. It was as if it was someone else's arm and not hers. Before she could speculate on this oddity, her consciousness was discovered.

"Mum! Ginny is regaining consciousness!" Percy declared with excitement, forgetting his usual decorum. "See! Her hand is moving."

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley cried, at her side in a moment. "Can you hear me?"

Somehow, Ginny forced her eyes open, but then had to squint when she was overwhelmed by the bright white walls. They were in St. Mungo's. Ginny's favorite. Mrs. Weasley peered into her eyes, concern etched all over her face as the rest of the Weasley family present scrambled to gather around the bed. "Are you okay?" Mrs. Weasley demanded.

"I feel fine, Mum." Ginny lied, this fact being betrayed by the obvious difficulty involved with forming the words. She could hear the twins snickering. Her father's face was painted with concern. Even though Ron and Percy weren't betraying much emotion, she could tell that they had been worried.

"You are most certainly not fine!" Mrs. Weasley retorted.

"Well, I am very tired." Ginny conceded. "I'm sure a little bed rest will solve everything though." She looked at the man Mrs. Weasley had been speaking too who was dressed in Healer robes for support.

The Healer cleared his throat. "Bed rest will of course do you good." he stated. "However, there may be something amiss with you arm."

"It seems fine to me." Ginny said, lifting it up and waving it around to demonstrate. She knew perfectly well what had caused the oddness in her arm. She also knew that there probably wasn't anything that could done to fix it. She would have to accept it as it was.

"If you say so." The Healer stated diplomatically, obviously not believing her. "Perhaps you could tell us what you were doing before this . . . condition came upon you."

Ginny screwed up her face, putting on a show of trying to remember. In actuality, she was trying to come up with a really good story. In the end, she decided to keep her deception simple. "I can't really remember."

This of course frustrated the Healer and he peppered her with a lot more questions. Ginny's answers to each of them was equally vague. Finally, he had no choice but to admit defeat. He turned to the Weasley parents and informed them that he would be releasing Ginny to go home and that they should see to it that she got plenty of sleep. He further instructed that Ginny should return if she encountered any difficulty whatsoever with her arm.

Mrs. Weasley of course agreed to this plan and before Ginny knew it, she had been whisked to the Burrow and been put to bed. She fell asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Over the coming days, Ginny began to regain her strength and was able leave her bed for short periods, usually to join the family at the dinner table. It was during one of these dinners that Mr. Weasley observed that she no longer was right-handed. She had been trying to eat a bowl of soup using her left hand and was failing so miserably that it had only been a matter of time before someone noticed.

Her parents of course requested that she try to use her right hand. As awkward as using her left hand felt, using her right was much worse. This resulted in a visit to the Healer at St. Mungo's who was unable to make any definite conclusions. When they thought she wasn't paying attention, she heard the Healer whisper to her parents that he thought she might have had a stroke of some sort, or perhaps epilepsy. He advised them to watch her.

So they did. It was highly frustrating. Ginny's every waking moment was shadowed by at least one member of the Weasley family. When she had a particular nasty nightmare one night, she awoke to find that her parents had rushed to her room, apparently alerted by some noises she had been making.

Ron had observed that she was not quite the same Ginny she had been before her little incident. Before she had been able to respond to this accusation, Percy had pompously explained that people who had looked death in the face often changed a great deal.

He had no idea how correct he was, Ginny mused.

She had no problem letting them believe what they would about any difference they might observe. Nor did she worry about letting them see the basic changes in her personality. It was not as if they would immediately assume that she had traveled through time. They would find their own plausible explanations.

It had been early June when Ginny's supposed attack had occurred. By mid-July the family had laid off a little and Ginny began to be granted privacy. It was during one of these moments that Fides the phoenix arrived.

Her brothers were out playing Quidditch, Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen, and Mr Weasley was of course, at work. Ginny was reading a book when Fides appeared with a puff of flame- the Pensieve containing the two wands still in her talons.

The phoenix flew to the bedside table and set the Pensieve down. Without any other ado, Fides disappeared in another puff of flame. Ginny recalled that the ball was in her court with regard to what to do next.

Noise from the kitchen reminded her that she was not alone, so she immediately began to take steps to protect the secrecy of the Pensieve and wands. As quietly as she could, she pried up a couple of floorboards to reveal an empty but dusty space below.

Knowing that her specially made wand with Fides' feather would not be detected by the Ministry as underage magic, she used it to cast a few spells to modify the space. The floor looked the same as it had before, but it now had an invisible trapdoor that opened only to Ginny's touch. She secreted both wands and the Pensieve in it and shut it.

Ginny came to the conclusion that it would be better to introduce herself to her once and future husband sooner rather than later. This would give her more of the summer to prepare Harry for what was to come. Using her own memories of Harry's description of his past and the assortment of the memories in the Pensieve, she was able to pinpoint the date that Harry's first Hogwarts letter arrived at 4 Privet Drive.

She decided that it would be in a good idea to warn him not to let his aunt or uncle see the Hogwarts letter. This would enable Harry to avoid many difficulties, though it would prevent his friendship with Hagrid. She would have to encourage him to develop that friendship another time.

It was late on the night of July the twenty-third that Ginny made her preparations to visit Harry. She went to bed like everyone else, but lay awake until a little bit after midnight. Satisfied that everyone in the Burrow was sound asleep, she crept out of bed and retrieved her wand from the compartment beneath the floorboards.

With a little bit of effort, she was able to cast a Silencing charm around the room followed by a Repelling charm to keep any possible intruders away. Casting spells with the wand had become awkward, now that her wand-arm was her left arm. She assumed that she would get used to it soon.

Ginny whispered "Lumos" and studied herself in the mirror with the aid of the light emitting from the wand. She could not resist the urge to change her clothes and make some adjustments to her hair. She told herself that first impressions were important and then began to feel utterly ridiculous. He was not even eleven years old yet, and she wasn't yet ten.

A blush spread across her face and she whispered "Nox" to cancel the spell. With a wave of the wand she Disapparated to the cupboard at 4 Privet Drive.

Space was limited in such cupboards, as they had not really been designed to serve as bedrooms. Therefore, when Ginny appeared, she found herself standing on Harry's bed above his sleeping form. Before she could decide what to do next, she banged her head on the ceiling and fell down- on Harry, and knocked the wind right out of him. This effectively woke him up.

Ginny heard him gasp for breath as he tried to sit up. She quickly cast another Silencing charm and then cast a spell that caused several glowing orbs to hover near the ceiling, lighting up the cupboard.

She then scrambled off of him and took a seat on the end of the bed, facing him. "I'm sorry about landing on you." she said apologetically. "Are you okay?"

Harry Potter nodded and stared at her with confusion in his eyes. "Who are you?"

"I'm Ginny Weasley." she said carefully.

"Er . . . I'm Harry Potter." he supplied.

"I know." Ginny said quickly.

"Oh."

There was silence as they stared at each other. Ginny was fighting to keep her emotions from overwhelming her at the sight of Harry.

It was Harry who finally broke the silence. "So why are you here?"

Ginny wasn't really sure how to answer that. "I'm here to help you." she finally said.

"How?"

"In the morning you will receive a letter in the mail. I'm here to tell you that you must not let your aunt or uncle see that letter. Hide it and read it only when they aren't around or they'll take it away and destroy it. I'll come back tomorrow night, talk about it with you, and answer your questions."

Harry was beyond confused. "Why would anyone mail me a letter and why wouldn't Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon want me to read it?"

"The letter talks about something they've tried to keep secret from you. It tells you who you really are."

Harry was intrigued, but still confused. "Why would they try to keep it secret and what is it?"

"Don't worry about it." Ginny said, beginning to feel ridiculous. "I promise that I'll explain everything tomorrow night. You just have to trust me for now. Now repeat back to me what you're supposed to do."

"Uh- I get the letter, keep it secret, read it alone, and wait for you to land on top of me again."

"That's about right." Ginny confirmed. "One more thing. Don't tell anybody that I was here."

Harry wasn't sure that anyone would believe him, even if he told them, but he agreed and promised nevertheless.

Satisfied that she had accomplished her mission for now, Ginny instructed the bemused Harry to close his eyes. When he opened them again, both she and the glowing orbs were gone without a trace.

Harry picked up the three pieces of mail that lay on the doormat. One of them was a letter for him.

Mr. H Potter

The Cupboard Under the Stairs

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

The strange girl's prediction had been fulfilled. He stared at the odd envelope for a moment and then Uncle Vernon's voice broke through his reverie demanding the reason for his delay. Remembering the girl's instructions, he stuffed the letter into his pocket and brought the rest of the mail to Vernon.

It seemed forever to Harry before a chance to read the letter presented itself, but he kept himself amused by thinking of the girl. Who was she and why had she come to visit him- in the middle of the night?

When the Dursleys left Harry to go out to a new restaurant that had opened nearby, Harry secreted himself in the cupboard and retrieved the letter from its hiding place. He broke the seal that held the letter closed and opened it.

Harry read the letter and examined the enclosed supply list. He understood why the Dursleys would not appreciate the contents of this letter. It was strange. The Dursleys did not like strange. After rereading the contents of the letter several times, he finally decided to wait for the girl who called herself Ginny to appear again.

Strangely he found himself looking forward to her visit more than he was looking forward to learning about the letter. It was nice to have someone who wanted to help him- a friend as it were.

Harry went to bed as early as possible, hoping to hasten Ginny's arrival. When he next awoke he found the familiar glowing orbs floating near the ceiling and Ginny was leaning over him, calling his name.

He sat up quickly. "I got the letter." he reported eagerly.

"I suppose you have quite a few questions." she said to him cheerfully.

"Yes." he replied. "What does it all mean?"

"Harry," she said and then paused. "You're a wizard."


	3. Chapter 2: Diagon Alley

**Chapter Two: Diagon Alley**

"A wizard?" Harry repeated, turning the idea over in his head. He had thought that might be the case after reading that letter from Hogwarts, but hearing it from her lips for real brought the idea home. "What exactly is a wizard?"

"A wizard, or a witch- in my case, is a person who can perform magic." Ginny answered. She pointed to the glowing orbs floating above them. "I created those with magic. My ability to appear and disappear inside this cupboard is magic too."

This idea seemed vaguely cool to Harry. Who wouldn't want to appear and disappear at will? He certainly wished that he could do so, especially when on the run from Dudley. "How do I do magic?" he asked, slightly suspicious, but warming up to the idea nevertheless.

Ginny produced her wand and gave a short explanation about how most basic magic was done with wands. She then handed it to him. "Give it a try." She then explained the simple "Lumos" spell.

Harry clutched her wand and staring at it intently, whispered the spell. "Lumos." A gleam of light shone from the tip of the wand and he grinned. "Amazing!"

Ginny nodded and took back the wand, quickly muttering the counter-spell. "Hogwarts is the school where most wizards and witches learn how to do magic. You'll be able to attend beginning on 1 September."

This sounded intriguing to Harry, but then he thought of the Dursleys and he felt his hopes sink as reality sank its claws into him. "I don't think my Aunt and Uncle would approve of this. They won't even believe me about all of this and they definitely won't support me at this Hogwarts. They've already enrolled me at Stonewall High."

There was no answer from Ginny for a moment and Harry was afraid for a moment that she might leave. He didn't want her to leave for some reason. Finally she spoke. "The Dursleys already know that you're a wizard." she said quietly. "That's why they dislike you so much."

Harry's jaw dropped. "What do you mean they know I'm a wizard? How could they possibly know?"

"Your parents were magical too," Ginny explained, "and for your information, they did not die in a car accident."

With that opening, Ginny unfolded to Harry the events surrounding Voldemort's rise and fall from power. She explained how his parents had been killed and then explained how Harry had survived and had consequently become famous, explaining the scar on his forehead to him as well. She further informed him of why he had been left with the Dursleys- for his own safety.

This left Harry's mind quite numb and Ginny opted to let him mourn anew for his parents in silence. Finally he met her eyes again. "What is your connection to all this?"

"I'm from your future, Harry." Ginny told him seriously.

"My future?"

"Time travel." Ginny elaborated. "I traveled through time to save you."

"From what?" Harry asked, a note of fear in his voice.

"Voldemort." Ginny whispered. "He's going to rise again. This scar marks you as his equal." Slowly she reached out, gingerly brushed his hair away, and ran her finger down the lightning bolt-shaped scar. "You are the only one with the power to defeat the Dark Lord. In the future I am from, he defeated you. If you let me help you, it doesn't have to be that way again."

Harry was terrified. Desperately he wanted to deny this, believe that this was some sort of sick farce, but he couldn't. He could see the sincerity in her large brown eyes and Harry had began to feel an implicit trust in her. "You'll help me?"

"Of course." Ginny answered, not betraying even a hint of hesitation, surprising and further endearing her to Harry.

Before Harry could think to ask any more questions, Ginny informed him that they were running out of time. She had him write his acceptance letter for Hogwarts on a piece of parchment she had brought with her and then promised to see to it that it got owled to Hogwarts.

"When will I see you again?" Harry asked.

"Soon." Ginny promised. "We need to go and acquire your school supplies." She gestured toward the supply list that had come with the Hogwarts letter. "I wish we could do it this morning, but I don't think I could sneak away from my family on such short notice. I'll try to arrange something really soon, though. I'll also see to getting you out of this abominable cupboard and into a real bedroom."

"Just how do you intend to do that?" Harry wondered.

A crooked grin appeared on Ginny's lips. It was disturbing to see such a thing on a little girl's face. "You'll see. I'll be along in a few days and you can watch them squirm. After I'm done having fun with them, we'll be off for a terrific day in London!"

They bade each other farewell and Harry watched as Ginny waved her wand and disappeared with a quiet popping noise.

The next days passed slowly for Harry. He was longing for a certain red-head to visit. He tried to entertain himself by reading and re-reading his Hogwarts letter, especially the supply list. The uniform sounded a bit strange, but he realized that it was definitely better than what he would have been wearing at Stonewall High.

Books did not really hold his interest for too long, but the Dark Forces textbook sounded like it could be interesting and useful. As for the rest of it, he could hardly wait to get a wand.

Harry's birthday arrived and when he entered the kitchen, Aunt Petunia immediately demanded that he assist with the cooking of breakfast whilst Uncle Vernon and Dudley lounged at the table.

Some birthday, Harry noted to himself sarcastically.

As he was serving them their bacon, a sharp rap sounded on the front door of 4 Privet Drive.

"Who could that be?" Vernon demanded in an aggravated voice, annoyed that someone would dare disturb his breakfast. The rap sounded again and Vernon reluctantly surrendered the comics to Dudley before making his way to the door.

He found an imposing, red-haired young woman standing on his doorstep with an annoyed expression pasted onto her slightly freckled face. She might have been cute, had it not been for the hostility that was more than evident in her eyes. Everything about her was severe, from the tight bun her hair had been arranged into, to the extreme pointy high heels she wore. Her dark, pin-striped skirt and jacket were even more imposing.

Even though she had yet to utter a word, Vernon Dursley found himself on the defensive. "What do you want?" he demanded.

"I'm from Child Protection Services." she announced, brushing past him and entering the home. "I'm here to do a random inspection of your home. How many children are under your care?"

Vernon didn't know what to do. "T-two he stuttered. But see here . ."

"Names?" she asked imperiously, her arched eyebrows daring him to cause trouble.

"Dudley Dursley and Harry Potter."

She produced a clipboard, seemingly out of nowhere and began to write, all while furiously frowning. She finished and looked at him. "Let's meet them."

Mr. Dursley reluctantly led her to the kitchen where everyone else was.

Harry had heard the exchange at the door and in the hall and he knew precisely who this person was and what she was up to. He was thrilled. What he was not expecting however, was Ginny's appearance. When she walked into the kitchen following Vernon, Harry's mouth dropped. Was this what his friend really looked like?

Ginny began to ask all sorts of demanding questions. This amused Harry, though he managed to keep a straight face as the Dursleys did their best to impress Ginny. He nearly broke out into outright laughter when she began a tirade, lecturing the Dursleys over their son's obesity.

"He's larger than a whale!" Ginny declared, sneaking a wink at Harry while the Dursleys weren't looking at her. "If you don't watch out, someone is going to kidnap him and take him to the lard factory!"

Petunia tearfully informed Ginny that Dudley was simply big boned.

Ginny bluntly informed them that they had better put Dudley on a serious diet and informed them that she would be following up. She then turned to Harry and started demanding explanations for his frailness. Petunia had no real excuse and Ginny told them that they had best see to it that he had double or triple portions at meals.

Doomsday came for the Dursleys when Ginny decided to inspect bedrooms. "Show me to where you sleep." she directed Harry.

Harry promptly led her to the cupboard under the stairs. Ginny had of course already seen it, but she did a really good job of being surprised and outraged while the Dursleys quailed, waiting for her to lash out at them. She didn't disappoint them.

"Have you ever been to a prison?" Ginny asked the Dursleys in a quiet voice.

Mr. And Mrs. Dursley's eyes were bulging in fear. "Er . . no."

"Would you like to go soon?"

No answer.

"Then I suggest that you make some changes." Ginny informed them cooly. "I'm going to take Mr. Potter back to my office and I'm going to discuss a few things with him. When he returns tonight, things had better be different. If they aren't, your life will become very miserable."

No answer.

"Good.. Come with me Mr. Potter." Ginny directed. With that, Harry and Ginny exited 4 Privet Drive. Silence reigned as they left, with the exception of the slam of the front door and the click of Ginny's high heels.

As soon as they made it around the corner, Ginny burst into hysterical laughter. Harry joined her. They found a small park and made use of one of its benches. "The look on their faces was priceless!" Harry declared, deciding that this was most definitely the best birthday he had ever had.

Ginny smiled. "It was. Happy Birthday, Harry."

He acknowledged her good wishes with a smile. There was a small silence. Ginny was about to announce that they should leave for Diagon Alley, but was interrupted by a question from Harry. "Is this what you really look like?"

A blush spread across Ginny's face. "I kind of looked like this before I traveled through time." she confessed. "The clothes and hair weren't quite my style. As for here and now, I look the same as when you first met me. It was only my soul that traveled through time."

"So you can use magic to change your appearance?" Harry figured out.

"Yeah. Illusion charms and the such."

Harry felt embarrassed to pry, but he was terribly curious. "What's your family like?"

Ginny smiled and told Harry all about her family. Her oldest brothers that she admired, the twins and their pranks, and Ron who was a dear. She talked about her mum who loved them so much and her rather eccentric dad. Harry could tell that she loved them all a great deal and began to feel pangs of regret for not being able to grow up in a loving family.

"Do they know that you've traveled back in time?"

"No." Ginny confessed. "I'm pretty sure they'd send me to the funny farm if I tried explaining it to them. Maybe I'll tell them someday though."

Harry grinned. "They'll be shocked." His face got a little more serious before asking another question that he'd been wondering about for a few days. "How did we know each other in the future?"

Ginny's face became beet-red. "Er . . . Ron was your best friend, so we kind of knew each other."

Stupidity wasn't something that ran through the Potter family. "How else did we know each other?"

Telling him the truth about this wasn't what Ginny had been planning, but now faced with a direct question, she couldn't bring herself to lie. Not to him. "Harry, I was your wife."

A myriad of emotions threatened to overwhelm Harry. His wife? A part of him shivered, thinking about how creepy this was. Another part of him was overjoyed with the idea of having someone that he could call family while still another part of him was disbelieving.

Her hand on his knee jerked him out of his reverie. He looked her in the eyes and she spoke quietly to him. "We don't need to worry about that now, Harry. You're only eleven and I'm now younger than that. It's irrelevant other than the fact that I care deeply for you and will consequently do everything I can to help you succeed. For now, let's be friends."

"Friends it is." Harry agreed. That sounded acceptable. Being friends wasn't weird. He shoved his emotions aside, not wanting to have them cloud up his birthday. "Were we going to go shopping for supplies?"

"That's the plan." Ginny replied. "Our first stop is Gringotts to access the bank account your parents left behind for you." This led to a discussion about goblins, Diagon Alley, and just how the magical monetary system worked.

Before leaving for Diagon Alley, Ginny used her wand to change up Harry's appearance to avoid him being recognized. She fixed his glasses, shrunk his clothes a bit, changed his hair to blond, and covered up the scar. A conjured mirror showed the results to an impressed Harry.

Ginny then created a Portkey which transported them to the alley near the Leaky Cauldron. Tom the barkeep did not recognize the impressive red-haired young woman and the boy whom he assumed was her son when they entered the pub, so he offered to do the necessary wand tap to get them into Diagon Alley, guessing that they were Muggles. They did nothing to disabuse him of this idea.

The first stop was Gringotts. A quick blood test confirmed Harry's identity in the absence of his normal vault key. He was able to sign up for a new one and cancel the old one. The goblins weren't very appreciative of his disguise, but he explained that he was avoiding public notice and the goblins promised their discretion. Ginny did not come to his vault with him, fearing that the goblins suspicion would be aroused if her disguise was detected. She told Harry to withdraw plenty of Galleons and promised to wait for him.

After that, they made the rounds to the various shops. They bumped into Malfoy at Madam Malkins. Perceiving Harry to be a Muggleborn, Malfoy ended up being quite rude to Harry. Ginny explained the Pureblood vs Muggleborn problem to Harry between there and their next stop.

Harry was the most excited about Ollivander's wand shop. Against her better judgement, Ginny went in with Harry. Her fears about the wandmaker's magical perception turned out to be well founded

"Mr. Potter." Ollivander declared. His eyes turned to Ginny and narrowed in suspicion. "I want to say Miss Weasley, but that doesn't seem to be quite right." There was a very long awkward silence. "Mrs. Potter might be more appropriate, but that doesn't seem to fit either."

"Call me Ms. Weasley." Ginny directed. "I would also ask you not to mention this to Professor Dumbledore."

Mr. Ollivander was not pleased. "This is highly irregular Ms. Weasley. What is going on here?"

"Nothing nefarious." Ginny said sharply. "Please, you'll have to trust that we know what we're doing."

An argument was clearly raging behind Mr. Ollivander's eyes. "You have a wand, Ms. Weasley. Let me see it."

Ginny produced her wand and handed it to the wandmaker who examined it very carefully. "Cherry and phoenix feather. Twelve inches." He looked up at Ginny. "I can tell that I am the maker of this wand, but I have no memory of doing so." His eyes widened as he realized what this might mean.

"Like I said," Ginny reiterated. "You'll just have to trust us. Please."

Ollivander muttered to himself for a few moments before finally giving in. "All right. I can't see myself doing such fine handiwork for someone who I knew was evil." He turned his attention to Harry, saying nothing more of the matter. "Which arm is your wand-arm?"

Of course, the wand that chose Harry set Ollivander off again, but Ginny was able to get him to promise to not spill the beans. They departed and made a few more stops. They spent a great deal of time at the book shop, thumbing mostly through books on Defense and made several purchases.

A stop at the Owl Emporium resulted in Harry purchasing Hedwig, with no prompting from Ginny at all. Ginny for herself was glad to see Hedwig. She had always liked the owl. With that, their business at Diagon Alley was concluded. Ginny suggested that they duck into Muggle London to buy Harry some decent clothes, and they did so with some banknotes that they had exchanged at Gringotts. They left Hedwig and most of Harry's new supplies under Tom's watchful care.

On their way back to the Leaky Cauldron, Harry spotted a Muggle restaurant and suggested they go and have a bite to eat. So they did. They talked about many things. Eventually, the topic of Harry's parents came up and Ginny did her best to tell Harry as much about them as she knew. This inevitably led to Sirius Black.

Harry was of course outraged at Sirius' situation. That's when Ginny informed Harry of her plans to raid Azkaban. Harry thought it all sounded marvelous.


	4. Chapter 3: Azkaban

A/N: Thank you for your kind reviews.

**Chapter Three: Azkaban**

When Harry arrived back at the Dursley's house that night, he was surprised to find that he had been given Dudley's second bedroom. They had apparently taken Ginny's threats to heart. However, their attitude toward him had not changed in the least. They ignored him and thankfully didn't notice that Harry now owned a lot of abnormal junk that they definitely would not approve of.

Along with Hedwig and her cage, he lugged the new trunk that Ginny had persuaded him to buy up to his new bedroom, opened it and began removing all the shopping bags and packages that he had acquired throughout the day. Ginny's advice had turned out to be dead useful when it came to making purchases.

She had advised him on what cauldrons to buy, pragmatically recommended that he purchase used rather than new History of Magic textbooks, and discouraged him from buying other things he definitely did not need. She had also assisted him in accumulating a rather large collection of Defense books, though she told him that they would be more useful as reference books until he had a broader understanding of magic in general.

All in all, the trip to Diagon Alley had been very enjoyable for Harry. Not only because of all the new discoveries he had made and things he had bought, but more because of Ginny's company. He found that he rather enjoyed being with her.

After he finished sorting his new possessions, he picked up one of the Defense books and sat on the bed. "The Light Overpowereth the Dark." he whispered, reading the title. This was one book that Ginny had specifically asked the clerk at the book shop for before they had even browsed the other available titles. The clerk had produced it from a locked cabinet behind the counter and it had cost Harry a pretty penny. Ginny swore that it would be worth it though.

Ginny had instructed him to study a certain spell in the book, telling him that it would be helpful with regard to her plans for breaking Sirius out of Azkaban. She also had told him that when he mastered the spell, she would explain the details of her intended prison raid.

Harry was very excited to hear that he had a godfather, a person his parents had known and loved. Consequently, he was very eager to help in anyway. With an exaggerated bout of enthusiasm, he decided to read the book's introduction, but his spirits were considerably dampened by the author's complicated theorizing about the Light and the Dark.

He decided to move on to the part Ginny had advised him to read. The Patronus Charm. The author went into great detail about the said charm, explaining both the theory and the practical use of it. Ginny had told Harry that she particularly appreciated this text for how the author so carefully explained the wand movements associated with the each spell and had then explained to Harry that the thoughts and wand movements behind each spell were much more important than the words used.

Realizing that he should probably practice, Harry eagerly grabbed his new wand and careful not to actually cast the spell, began to practice the movements for the Patronus Charm. He did this exercise sporadically over the next few days between chores and other things. He loved imagining himself in various duels with Dark wizards. A side effect of all this imagining was the increase of Harry's ability to put emotion behind his spells.

When Ginny Apparated into his room late one evening, he was in the midst of one such practice. "Impressive." Ginny said by way of greeting.

Harry jumped sheepishly and turned around to see her. "You said the wand movements were important so I was practicing."

"You were doing very well." Ginny assured him. "I think you have the basic movement down." She produced her Cherry wood wand and used it to place privacy charms and spells around the bedroom. Another more complicated spell enlarged the room considerably. "Let's see you do it again, except this time- use my wand and say the incantation. Remember to think a happy thought."

Taking the proffered wand from her hand, Harry put his own on his bedside table and then turned toward the enlarged room. He shifted into the appropriate stance and paused, feeling extremely awkward and self-conscious now that he had an audience.

Harry glanced over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of Ginny. She was watching him soberly with patience and encouragement in her eyes. "Go on," she urged.

She warmed his heart and he realized that he did not need to feel awkward or self-conscious in front of her. It was this emotion he did not quite understand that overwhelmed him as with sharp textbook precision he cast the charm. "Expecto Patronum!"

A silvery mist hissed forth from the wand and lingered for a few moments before fading away. "I don't think I got it." Harry sighed.

Ginny shook her head. "No. But you came very close."

"What did I do wrong?" Harry asked.

A sigh escaped from Ginny's lips. "It's not that you did anything wrong, Harry. You just need more experience and foundation. You did very well for your first time."

That was an understatement, Ginny admitted to herself. Trying to teach him the Patronus Charm before he even learned any other significant spell was insane. Most witches and wizards who had left Hogwarts had difficulty with this spell. She was trying to teach it to him before he even stepped foot into Hogwarts.

Ginny didn't want to leave him out in the cold with regards to breaking Sirius out of Azkaban, but she didn't want to let him step foot near Azkaban without being well-prepared to defend himself either.

In the days between their visit to Diagon Alley and now, Ginny had debated with herself over whether it would even be possible for him to succeed. He's too young, one voice had argued in her head. You're expecting too much from him. Another more logical voice had pointed out that Harry was powerful and would already have enough strength to cast the Patronus Charm. Another voice reminded her that it would do no good to imagine up limits and barriers that weren't necessarily there and that it would be best to simply keep trying.

"But?"

This jerked Ginny out of her thoughts. "But what?"

"You said I did well for my first time." Harry reminded her. "But what did I not do right?"

"No, you did well, really." Ginny said. "It's a spell that takes a lot of practice before you get it right. It's like a bicycle. Once you get it, there will be no problem."

Harry tried again and got the same result. "Surely there is something more I can do."

"You're focusing on a happy thought, right?"

"Yes." Harry affirmed.

"Good. There's a couple of things you might try." Ginny said, approaching Harry. "I've found they help me enhance my own spell casting ability." She took his hand and shifted it slightly, angling the wand a tad. "Do that and then don't grip your wand so hard. Let it loose a bit. Now do the wand movement, but try to make it more smooth and fluid. Try again."

This try produced a more substantial silvery mist, much to Harry's delight. He was improving!

"Now," Ginny lectured, "this is primarily an offensive spell used against Dementors in which you attempt to overpower them. They are Dark creatures that guard Azkaban." She then briefly explained these creatures and her knowledge of Harry's particular vulnerability to them. "With other spells you cast them and maybe they hit the target and then they do their job. With this, you might have to maintain it a bit if there are a large amount of Dementors who don't flee at the first sight of your Patronus. Pretending that you're maintaining it in such a way might help you get better results. Here's how you can do that."

She picked up Harry's wand from the bedside table and used it to demonstrate. "You do what I have taught you, the smooth movement, then you cast it. Don't cut loose from the result though."

Ginny did the movement that Harry had come to recognize and then instead of moving the wand or shifting it after the spell would have been cast, she held the wand in place, pointing it at where a Dementor might be. "I would want to keep focusing on my happy thought and on putting energy in the spell. I would also want to brace myself like this." She moved her right hand back a little bit and shifted her stance slightly. "Did you get that?"

Harry nodded and now knowing that he was especially vulnerable to Dementors fiercely resolved to put his all into his next attempt. He did just that as he mimicked Ginny's every movement during the demonstration.

The silvery mist that hissed from his wand was impressive, without a doubt. Though it failed to form Harry's stag, Ginny was nevertheless pleased. If it was not an example of a Patronus, it was certainly an example of Harry's power. He would do very well when he got to Hogwarts if he capitalized on the basic principles she had taught him in an effort to help him succeed at the Patronus Charm.

She spontaneously praised Harry for his effort, instantly wiping the look of disappointment off his face. "Well done Harry!"

They decided to call it quits for the night but agreed to meet the next night and every night thereafter until he was able to master the spell. They did so and Harry's Patronus gradually improved as August wore on. Ginny was thrilled with the progress that they were making, but Harry was becoming despondent, fearing that every spell he ever learned would be as difficult.

This all came to a head one night after another one of Harry's failed attempts to produce a corpeal Patronus. He sat down on the bed. "It just isn't happening." he sighed.

Ginny felt terrible. She had pressed him to learn this hard spell and he was being defeated by it. He had trusted her to guide him and now it seemed as if she had been battering him against a brick wall for nothing. "I'm sorry, Harry." Ginny apologized as she joined Harry on the bed and without thinking, wrapped her arm around him comfortingly. "Perhaps I'm expecting too much."

"No." Harry rushed to reassure her. "It's not that, exactly. I think I should be able to do it, it's just that I can't see myself doing it."

An idea jolted through her head. The Harry of the future had faced the same problem, until he saw himself cast the Patronus to save his and Sirius' life in his third year at Hogwarts. She could use the Pensieve and show Harry himself casting a Patronus!

"I think I know what we need to do." Ginny announced. She got her wand from Harry. "I'll be back in a few moments."

It wasn't very long before she returned, holding a curious looking bowl full of a strange liquid. "This is a Pensieve." she explained to Harry. "I brought it from the future with me. It contains a lot of your memories. We can watch you cast a Patronus."

Harry stared at the bowl and the memories swirling within. For some reason, he felt a very strong revulsion to it. He did not want to be connected to his old self's memories.. "I don't know about this." Harry said, backing away from the bowl Ginny was holding. "I don't really want to see my own memories."

Ginny was confused. "Why not?"

He shuddered. "I don't know."

"It's all right." Ginny said thinking quickly, reckoning that it would be easier to come up with another solution rather than try to convince Harry otherwise. "I can put one of my memories of you producing a Patronus and we can watch it instead."

This seemed to be an acceptable compromise for Harry, though he still felt uneasy. He watched as Ginny put her wand to her head and withdrew some of the same substance that was floating in the bowl. She mixed it in and then held out her hand for Harry.

As soon as he grabbed her hand, they found themselves on the main street of some village. Harry watched as two people- his older self and a different Ginny walked down the street, keeping to the shadows.

Harry felt a sudden feeling of gloom descend and before he could ask the Ginny he came with about this, the other Ginny yelled. "Dementors!"

He watched the events unfold. He watched as his alternate self cast the Patronus Charm. In awe he watched as a stag exploded from the wand. The stag effectively drove away the Dementors and then he blinked and found himself back in his bedroom at Privet Drive.

Ginny was watching him carefully. "Would you like to try one more time?"

"I suppose so." Harry said, feeling more confident now.

Ginny returned the wand to him and he prepared to try again. Before he could do that, he was interrupted. "Wait!"

"What?"

"I was just thinking that we might try somewhere else with more room." Ginny told him. She grabbed the wand back and used it to Apparate them to the top of a small hill in a moonlit clearing.

"Where are we?" Harry demanded.

"In the middle of nowhere." Ginny said as she handed him back her wand. "Now try."

Harry's daydreams came into play as he imagined that he was in a fight for his life against the deadly Dementors. He brandished Ginny's wand and waved it, shouting the necessary incantation, pouring his happiest memories and willpower into the spell.

He was well rewarded as a larger than life stag exploded from the wand and charged the horizon, pulsating as it lit the countryside for miles. After a while, it disappeared.

Harry was quite pleased with himself, but Ginny was beside herself. "Amazing Harry! Truly amazing! I can't believe it!"

"Amazing?" Harry asked. "I was beginning to feel pathetic. Surely a better wizard would have been able to learn that spell faster. If it takes me that much effort to learn every spell, I'm going to be in trouble!"

Ginny laughed. "You just cast a spell that most adult wizards and witches can't. They don't even teach that spell at Hogwarts normally. I promise you that most spells you learn will be easier than that one, Harry."

"Are you serious?" Harry wondered.

A demonstration seemed in order. Ginny motioned for her wand and then used it to cast a stunner. "Stupefy!"

Harry watched the red beam of light jump from the wand curiously.

"Now you try."

He took the wand, carefully imitated her every moment and shouted, "Stupefy!" A red beam of light shot from the wand. "Wow!" he exclaimed.

Ginny smiled at him. "Most spells will be much easier for you now. Your struggle at Hogwarts will be with magical theory and other subjects that have less to do with wands, I expect."

Harry remembered her promise about Sirius and Azkaban. "Do I get to hear your plans for breaking Sirius out of Azkaban now?"

"Of course." Ginny said. "Let's return to your bedroom, though."

Upon their return, Ginny conjured a chalk board and some chalk and proceeded to draw a diagram of Azkaban and the shoreline near the dread island while explaining what defenses were in place and where they were located.

"There are Aurors stationed at the dock with the boats." Ginny told Harry. "I'm afraid that the only way we can get to Azkaban is via the boats. I can overpower and take the Aurors out of commission easily, especially because we'll have the element of surprise on our side. Once we get a boat though, the next step is yours."

"What do I do?" Harry asked, feeling like he didn't really have much to offer.

"The Patronus, Harry! I do believe your Patronus is strong enough to overpower any Dementors that notice us and will be attempting to prevent our reaching the island. Once we're on the island, it will be strong enough to keep the Dementors away while we attend to business."

Harry felt a little foolish for not realizing that. "Er, right. Wouldn't you be better at taking care of the Dementors? You're more experienced."

"No, you're better Harry. Your Patronus is much more stronger than mine. That's why I never actually showed you my Patronus to demonstrate when I was teaching you. I didn't want you to get any limits or pre-conceived notions in your head." Ginny said, both answering his question and explaining her past actions.

Ginny went on to explain the rest of her plans and filled Harry in on the little necessary details. He asked plenty of questions, trying to make sense of all of the information. By the time Ginny left, he was confident that he could handle his part in the raid which was set to go down on the night of 30 August.

Mrs. Weasley waited until 30 August to take her children to Diagon Alley so that her sons who would be attending Hogwarts that year could obtain their supplies. Ginny had been unable to escape Mrs. Weasley's demand that she come with them.

As they walked past the wand shop, Ginny felt an immense amount of relief that Ron would not be getting a brand new wand year. Mr. Ollivander would have been difficult to deal with. The trip was uneventful, excepting a few disturbances that may or may not have been caused by the twins, but it was long.

This resulted in it being rather late once they returned to the Burrow. There was no way for Ginny to duck out of helping cook, serve, eat and clean up after dinner. Consequently, she was quite late when she Apparated into Harry's bedroom.

"What happened?" Harry asked, worry etched into his young face.

"Nothing." Ginny muttered. "I'm just a little behind schedule. There's nothing to worry about. Where's your bathroom?"

Harry pointed. "That way, down the hall- be careful of the Dursleys though."

"Worry about them, not me." Ginny quipped. She hefted the knapsack she had brought along with her and exited the room, quickly finding the bathroom.

In the knapsack were some old clothes and other things she had appropriated from the Burrow. No one would notice their absence, and later- complete destruction. Ginny changed into these clothes and then with the aid of the mirror began magically altering her appearance.

She had put a lot of thought into this particular disguise. It was a disguise that she wanted anyone who might see her to remember. Her hair became quite shorter and changed from red to blonde. She changed her eyes to the brightest shade of blue possible. Other parts of her body were also significantly altered, as well as her height.

Further magical precautions were taken. A spell to prevent the loss of even a single hair from her head or body was cast. She didn't need the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to find one of her hairs and put it in a Polyjuice potion. Another spell disguised her aura, another her voice, and so forth.

At last, Ginny strapped on two wand holsters that must have been a hundred years old. The knapsack had one last object in it. It was the goblin-made wand. Ginny withdrew it and held it up, studying it closely. The veins of light crystal glowed brightly while the dark crystal glowed with an eerie light as faint traces of Fiednfyre swirled in its depths. The black platinum shone brightly as well. It seemed to be greedily absorbing the light in the room while at the same time, shunning the light. Ginny had decided to bring it, just in case they ran into too much trouble. She gingerly inserted it into one of her wand holsters.

When Ginny returned to the room, Harry showed little surprise at her disguise this time around and stood patiently while Ginny made changes to him. He became a little taller and his hair lightened a little. His eyes became a very dull shade of brown and his face changed into something so boring, that no one would likely be able to remember it, even if they tried.

Ginny added the spells to prevent the detection of his identity and then one last spell to make him invisible to all but herself. They had planned to make him invisible from the start, but Ginny had opted to also disguise him in case he had to reveal himself, whether it be by accident or design.

They quickly reviewed the steps of the plan and without further ado, Disapparated to a certain place near Azkaban. It was beyond the security wards, so their arrival went undetected. The blokes at the Ministry hadn't seen a war for a while. Therefore, their defenses, planned from a dreary desk, had failed to account for potential attackers approaching the guard station and boat dock on foot. Consequently, Harry and Ginny approached the guard station and crouched below one of the fortified windows without being noticed by the guards within.

They could hear only silence. Suddenly an explosion sounded and both Harry and Ginny jumped with fright. This is it, Harry panicked, we've been discovered and we're about to die! Nothing happened though.

Cursing was heard from within the station and one voice challenged the cursing voice to "another round."

Ginny let out a sigh. "They're playing Exploding Snap," she explained to Harry. "It's a magical game."

Harry thought it was ridiculous. Who wanted to play a game that exploded? Cursed Aurors.

"Are you going to attack them yet?" Harry asked Ginny.

"No." she muttered in a low voice. "I can only account for three. I think there's supposed to be four."

"What do we do?"

"Wait." Ginny replied. "We need to figure whether there's a fourth guard and if there is, where he is."

It was nearly an hour before Ginny decided that it was safe to assume that the three Aurors playing Exploding Snap were the only Aurors. After that it was short work to deal with them. "Wait here." Ginny told Harry.

Ginny stood up, walked around the building, and blasted open the door. The Aurors stared at the black robed and blond witch with surprised expressions on their faces. Two were stunned before they even considered drawing their wands. The third had drawn his wand and erected a shield, but there was simply too much force behind Ginny's stunner. Ropes flew from Ginny's wand and tied the downed Aurors and Ginny retrieved their wands. She placed them across the room, well beyond their reach should they regain consciousness before she and Harry finished their job.

Harry had watched from the window, being invisible. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "You're really good."

"It's more that they were too complacent." Ginny told him. "The element of surprise is very important in a fight. As one of my favorite Aurors would say, constant vigilance!"

They proceeded down to the dock and commandeered a boat. With a quick tap of Ginny's wand, it started moving of its own accord toward the dread fortress of Azkaban that loomed ahead of them.

The boat had not carried them far before they were suddenly surrounded by a deluge of black-robed figures floating and flying through the air. "Dementors!" Ginny hissed. She shoved her wand to Harry. "Hurry! Cast the Patronus Charm."

Depression was grasping Harry already. He began shaking as Ginny handed him the wand. Desperately, he tried to think of happy thoughts. He found his happy thoughts and managed to gasp out the incantation, waving the wand at the Dementors.

The stag exploded from his wand and began running around the boat in circles as it moved through the water, effectively causing the Dementors to retreat. The Dementors disappeared and the stag took position ahead of the boat, riding on the water, leading them to the island's dock.

"Someone has sounded the alarm." Ginny stated in a matter-of-fact voice. "Otherwise, the Dementors would not have been privy to our presence so quickly. We must move fast. The Ministry Aurors will be on their way shortly."

"Who would have sounded the alarm?" Harry asked desperately.

"The fourth Auror." Ginny answered grimly. "I should have guessed. He or she must be on the island."

The boat continued toward the island with Prongs in the lead and stopped at the dock. Ginny reclaimed her wand from Harry and instructed him to stay out of the line of fire. She then approached the entrance to the prison with Harry cautiously following. Prongs was still present, but was out of sight.

The fourth guard turned out to be a he. He was standing in front of the gates that led into the prison with a grim look on his aged and seasoned face. "Stop now or I will be forced to attack you!" he shouted at her. His wand was drawn and he was ready to do battle.

Ginny did not stop and the Auror fired a rapid volley of spells at her. A swish of her wand produced a magical barrier that absorbed all the spells. She released the barrier and before the Auror could fire another spell, she disappeared into a cloud of bright yellow smoke that had abruptly swirled into existence around her.

The Auror was not distracted by the smoke or unnatural color of it and instantly realized that she was trying to fool him. Assuming that she was trying to get behind him, he whirled around to where she might appear.

Ginny had taken into account his experience and the likelihood of him guessing what she might do under cover of the smoke and was well prepared for his reaction. The smoke dissipated as the Auror whirled to reveal Ginny standing in the same place. The Auror fell after being stunned in the back.

Harry rushed up as soon as the Auror fell. "Is he all right?"

"Yes." Ginny answered as she used her wand to create a Portkey. She put it in the stunned Auror's hands and it activated, carrying him away to a safe place. "Let's get moving. Call your Patronus."

Harry caught sight of the stag, still prancing around and summoned it. "Hey! Follow us." He commanded, feeling a little silly for talking to something that wasn't a human. The stag came to them and began following them closely.

They entered the prison and were pleased to find a prisoner roster and map of the prison on a bulletin board right near the entrance. It seemed the prisoners were arranged in the prison according to their supposed crimes. Sirius Black for some odd reason had been placed on the top floor. Alone.

This annoyed Harry to no end for several reasons, but Ginny was pleased, saying that it was convenient for them. Without wasting another moment they rushed to the lift, but were unable to activate it. Ginny cursed, surprising Harry with her language. With her wand she destroyed the mechanism that operated the lift explaining to Harry that if they couldn't use the lift, then the backup Aurors weren't going to be using it either. They found the stairs and charged up.

They encountered a horde of Dementors at the first level up, but the Dementors fled at Harry's Patronus. The same occurred at every level of the prison, though with each level they ascended, there seemed to be less and less Dementors.

It seemed as if the top would never come, but after brief rest stops and a lot of heavy breathing, they made it there. There wasn't a single Dementor on this floor, nor had there been any on the two floors beneath. Ginny explained that there probably weren't any prisoners on those floors and one prisoner was hardly worth a Dementors continued presence on this top floor.

The lack of Dementors caused Harry's Patronus to fade away. This left Harry and Ginny to search the floor alone, being able to feel the subdued gloom from nearby Dementors. Each cell was locked and chained shut despite their being empty. Or so Harry thought. A wave of Ginny's wand and the resulting explosion revealed the inside of one cell. There were the bones of some unfortunate prisoner.

"I'm guessing they haven't used this level of the prison for a few centuries." Ginny told Harry. "They properly take care of the bodies of those who die now. The Ministry must have had a lot of anger toward Sirius to put him in a part of the prison so old and dreaded."

They continued down the hallways, blasting open various cells as quickly as possible. Most cells had human skeletons, but some had goblin skeletons. Ginny had felt angry heat emanate from the goblin-made wand at each of these discoveries. She didn't stop to think of the repercussions that these unfortunate discoveries might cause.

Another cell door was blown from its hinges and at long last they found him. Sirius Black was huddled in the corner and staring at them with mixed emotions on his face. He'd probably heard the explosions coming down the hall toward him.

"Padfoot, we're here to set you free." Ginny announced. "We know you're innocent."

"Who are you?" Sirius managed to say weakly. "And who is we? I see only one of you."

She waved her wand and Harry appeared. A few uttered counter-spells later, Harry Potter stood revealed. "This is Harry Potter."

Sirius gaped at Harry, the expression on his face betraying that he recognized Harry's looks and the scar on his forehead. "How dare you bring him to this dangerous place, whoever you are!" he declared vehemently.

"Oh please." Ginny muttered, her face heating up behind the illusion spells. He was right, kind of. "I needed him to get past the Dementors. Hurry, we've got to get going. The Aurors are on the way."

Sirius stared at her with surprise in his eyes. Without answering he leapt from his sitting position and standing on his tip-toes peered out the cell window. "From the lights and movement I can see down at the dock, I'd say they're here and possibly in the prison. What were you planning to do to get out of here?"

"I thought we'd walk out and use a Portkey," Ginny explained. "I wasn't expecting you to be on the top floor and I wasn't expecting the Aurors to show up."

"We need to think of something." Sirius muttered, sinking to the floor because he was too weak to continue standing. "Apparition and Portkey's are no good inside the prison."

Ginny smiled triumphantly. She had the perfect backup plan. Before she could explain it or put it into action, a rushing cold enveloped them.

"The Dementors are coming." Sirius gasped. "A lot of them!"

"Harry!" Ginny cried urgently. "Your Patronus."

Harry took the wand and cast his Patronus. The familiar stag charged down the hall as Sirius gasped. He knew that stag. The Dementors appeared and instead of fleeing from the Patronus, they kept charging it until they met. Harry was prepared for this and was pointing his wand still and holding the spell like Ginny had taught him. The Patronus and Dementors were forced to stop as they pressed against each other. It was a stalemate. Neither the Patronus or the Dementors were moving now. "What's wrong?" Harry asked desperately, working to hold the spell.

Ginny seemed just as confused, but Sirius was cagier and could see what was going on. "The Aurors are driving them up here. The Dementors can't go back, but they can't go forward either."

"It's of no matter." Ginny declared.

Harry and Sirius turned to look at her. She was holding the goblin made wand. Neither of them had ever seen anything like it. Before they could ask about it, she commanded them to hold onto her. They did so while Harry continued to hold his Patronus Charm against the onslaught of Dementors.

She then waved the wand and shouted a long incantation. Streaks of fire and lightning leapt from the tip of the wand and rushed out the door of the cell and spread through the corridors, multiplying. Though Ginny did not realize it, it also spread to the two floors beneath them. Ginny then screamed very loudly. "Fides!"

The phoenix appeared much more quickly than Ginny had expected and whisked them away from Azkaban in a puff of flame. What happened next revealed how fortunate Fides' timing had been.

Ginny's intent in casting the spell was only to destroy the nearby corridors to prevent the Dementors and Aurors from reaching them while they waited for Fides and made their escape. Ginny had not realized that the goblin-made wand had become much more powerful since Ginny had actually used it last. In addition, the goblin skeletons had aggravated the wand.

The Aurors in the prison who were rushing to the top floor could only hear the explosion and feel Azkaban's foundation shake, but the Aurors outside watched with terror in their eyes as the top three stories of the prison were annihilated.


	5. Chapter 4: Witch Hunt

A/N: A reviewer inquired about Ginny's appearance. She appears as and is a ten year old unless she disguises herself.She disguised herself during the trip to Diagon Alley and during the raid on Azkaban. A special thank you to those who took the time to submit a review.

**Chapter Four:** **Witch Hunt**

"Merlin!" Sirius exclaimed weakly as he slumped to the ground. Fides had dumped them all onto the ground in the middle of an empty moor and then perched on a rock nearby. "Where did you get a phoenix?"

"She's an old friend." Ginny explained as she picked herself up and began to look around, checking for any unwanted observers.

Sirius looked at her with squinted eyes. "All right, who are you and how did you get your hands on Harry?"

Harry surrendered the Cherry wand to Ginny who promptly used it to remove her disguise. "I am Ginny Weasley. As for how I got my hands on Harry, the simple story is that I went to his house, introduced myself, and invited him to come aloing."

Sirius was quite overwhelmed. He didn't understand how these two children could have possibly been successful at breaking him out of Azkaban, he didn't understand why they would do such a thing, and he most certainly did not understand where the phoenix and crazy wand came from. "What's going on here? What am I missing?"

"I will explain everything to you later." Ginny told Sirius. "For now, you should take the opportunity to get to know Harry. He will have to return to the Dursleys within a matter of minutes. It is early in the morning of the thirty-first of August, tomorrow he will be going to Hogwarts. It might be a while before you see him again."

There was silence as Harry and Sirius stared at each other. "Er . . I'm Harry." Harry announced shyly.

"I'm your godfather." Sirius choked. "James and Lily wanted me to take care of you should anything happen, but . . ."

"Don't worry about it." Harry said quickly. "Ginny explained everything to me. It was Peter Pettigrew who betrayed them."

"Right." Sirius said quietly, still surprised at his knowledge.

It was a rather awkward introduction and neither Harry nor Sirius knew what to say next. Finally Harry thought of something. "I'm going to Hogwarts tomorrow. Any special advice?"

Sirius laughed weakly. "More than you know. I'll owl you, how does that sound?"

"That sounds great!" Harry said, feeling amazing. He was overjoyed at the prospect of having Sirius as his godfather. "Maybe you could tell me more about my parents. Ginny doesn't know that much about them, just a few bare details."

"Of course." Sirius said warmly.

The moment was broken up by Ginny. "I hate to end this now," she said softly, "but the Ministry is going to be checking up on Harry's safety and it would not do for them to find him missing. I need to be back in bed too."

Harry and Sirius said their farewells. Sirius promised Harry that he'd write and that they would see each other soon. With that, Ginny turned to Fides and instructed the bird to take Harry back to Privet Drive and then return to pick up Sirius and herself.

Before Fides took Harry away, Ginny also bade Harry farewell and gave some last instructions. She explained to him that Fides would come and take him to Kings Cross and that he should leave a note for the Dursleys. She further explained how to get to the train platform and warned him not to give away the fact that they knew each other when he met the Weasley family. "Be sure to make friends with Ron." she also reminded him.

"Right." Harry said, trying to remember everything.

"Have lots of fun." Sirius instructed Harry. "Don't take those teachers too seriously."

Harry grinned. "Whatever you say, Sirius."

Seeing that the farewells were over, Fides spread her wings and took flight, preparing to take Harry back to Privet Drive. Before the phoenix could do this however, Ginny grabbed Harry and hugged him fiercely. "Harry?"

"Yes?"

"Stay safe." she whispered.

"Of course." he said, not quite sure how to respond.

Ginny let go of him and then Fides took him away. In the blink of an eye, Harry found himself on his bed. His school trunk sat next to the bed, already packed. Other than the trunk, there was no hint in the room of anything that had taken place since shortly before his eleventh birthday. He changed into his pajamas and dropped into bed, contemplating Sirius, Ginny, and the hug that she had given him. It was not long before he fell asleep.

Ginny stood on the empty moor staring at where Harry had been just a second before. It would be a long while before she would be able to really talk with him and be with him again. She would miss him dearly.

Her reverie was interrupted by Sirius. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"Hide you somewhere, I suppose." Ginny replied. Fides returned with a burst of white flame. Ginny motioned to Sirius, "Let's go."

Sirius took Ginny's hand and Fides took them to a stand of trees that was very familiar to Ginny. She could see the outline of the Burrow not far from where they were. "That's my house." she told Sirius, pointing. "You'll have to stay here for now. I'll come back with some food and chocolate as soon as I can."

"And explanations, I presume?"

"Yes, I'll explain everything." Ginny said. "Don't do anything to draw attention to yourself."

"Aye, aye." Sirius responded.

Fides took Ginny back to her bedroom and then disappeared in flames. Ginny quickly disposed of everything relating to her little excursion and hid the wands in the secret compartment she had made weeks earlier. She climbed into bed but could not fall asleep as she waited for the Burrow to come to life.

When she could smell breakfast and hear her brothers waking up she decided that it was safe to make her way to the kitchen and wait for the news that would surely come to the Burrow. She did not have to wait long. The Daily Prophet owl arrived just as Mrs. Weasley was shoveling food onto their plates.

Percy was the first to grab the newspaper. His gasp caught everyone's attention.

"What is it Percy?" Mr. Weasley yawned, still not quite awake.

"Hogwarts has discontinued the Prefect program." George announced solemnly. "This is a very tragic day."

"Azkaban was attacked last night!" Percy declared loudly, his voice laced with fear and shocked amazement.

Mrs. Weasley nearly dropped her pan onto Ron's head. Ron himself was looking very pale. The twins had fallen silent. It was Mr. Weasley who reacted first. "Let me see that!" he demanded as he grabbed the Daily Prophet from Percy, now looking very alert.

He read aloud from the article. "Late last night, Azkaban was raided by an unidentified witch. The Auror guards were all overpowered as were the Dementors. By the time Auror reinforcements arrived, the witch was at the highest level in the prison, near the cell of Sirius Black. Attempts were made to corner and apprehend them. However, the witch and Black escaped in an explosion that rocked the foundations of the prison and destroyed the top three levels entirely."

Ginny gasped in shock, but it was Mrs. Weasley who let out a nearly inhuman shriek. "Three levels? Destroyed?"

So much for having to act surprised. She had not expected her spell from the goblin-wand to be so destructive. The goal had been to demolish the hallway leading to Sirius' cell at best. This was going to make things interesting.

"Wasn't Sirius Black the one who betrayed the Potters?" Percy asked.

"He was You-Know-Who's right-hand man!" Mrs. Weasley declared.

Mr. Weasley did not comment but scrambled upstairs declaring that he had to get to work. For once, the twins didn't have much to say. They too were shocked apparently. An air of depression had settled over breakfast and was interrupted by the arrival of Amos Diggory through the Floo.

"Good morning." He greeted them anxiously. "Is Arthur here?"

"He's just rushing to get ready for work. We already heard the news."

Diggory sighed rather dramatically. "What a mess. The Ministry is scrambling all over the place. They need everyone they can to deal with this situation, what with Sirius Black and who knows who this witch is at large." He accepted a plate of food from Mrs. Weasley and continued talking. "Everyone is panicking. The timing of this attack is ominous."

"How is that?" Percy inquired.

"The term begins at Hogwarts tomorrow." Diggory declared between mouthfuls of Mrs. Weasley's cooking.

Ginny decided she needed to act more involved and interested. "What's so important about that?"

"It's who, not what." Diggory explained. "Harry Potter begins his first year at Hogwarts tomorrow. Fudge reckons that Black will be after Potter's blood. It was Potter that brought down You-Know-Who after all. The Aurors are on alert. Potter will be escorted by the Aurors to the Hogwarts Express."

"Harry Potter at Hogwarts?" one of the twins gasped. "I never thought of that."

"Well of course he'd be going to Hogwarts." Mrs. Weasley told them. "He's nearly Ron's age."

Before more could be said, Mr. Weasley came downstairs, ready to go. Diggory thanked Mrs. Weasley for breakfast and bid them a hasty farewell. They both departed for the Ministry via the Floo Network.

There was further speculation about the attack, but it came to nothing. After cleaning up, the various family members dispersed to their usual daily activities. When she was sure that the coast was clear, Ginny raided her stash of candy for some chocolate and the kitchen for some leftovers.

She found Sirius not to far from where she had left him. He was in his Animagus form, but when he spotted her, he changed back to human form. "What's going on?" he asked as he eyed the food greedily.

Ginny handed over the much needed food and explained what she had heard from the Daily Prophet and Amos Diggory. "Apparently my last spell was quite destructive." she concluded.

"What was that wand you used and where did you get it?" Sirius asked her.

"It's a wand crafted by the goblins." Ginny explained. "It also has been tempered by Fiendfyre and Basilisk venom."

Sirius had not been expecting this. "Where did you get a wand like that?" he wondered in amazement. "Voldemort would give his eyeteeth for something as powerful as that."

This question presented Ginny with the opportunity to explain how she had traveled from the future. "The goblin wand, my own wand, and the phoenix you saw all came with me from the future."

Sirius was floored and continued to be as Ginny explained everything. He had no trouble believing her and embraced everything thoughtfully. He then immediately began making plans for Harry which clashed with Ginny's plans.

This resulted in a rather lengthy argument about who had what right to do what thing. Sirius argued that as Harry's godfather, he had every right to do whatever he deemed necessary for Harry's good. Ginny argued that as Harry's sort-of-wife from the future she had every right that Sirius claimed. Sirius tried to claim seniority and maturity, but Ginny promptly blew that out of the water.

They managed to come to an agreement on a few things. They would wait for a bit before telling Dumbledore about everything. Until Voldemort was no longer using Professor Quirrel they would leave Peter Pettigrew alone, for fear that he might be too close to Voldemort's reach at this point. In order to ensure that Pettigrew did not feel threatened, Sirius would go cause havoc somewhere and possibly lead the public to believe that he might be dead as a result of said havoc.

After further discussion and plans it was decided that Sirius would go into hiding for several months while the Ministry searched for him. Sirius assured Ginny that he would be well enough off and requested only that Fides transport him to the destination of his choice. Fides was promptly summoned and before Sirius left, they arranged to meet in the coming year to prepare for Harry's summer.

With a puff of flame, Sirius and Fides disappeared and Ginny returned to the Burrow.

Harry slept in quite late that day and was in the process of getting scolded by Aunt Petunia when there was a knock at the door. She answered the door and found two men standing on the doorstep.

She was greeted by the one standing closest to her, an aged white-haired man with a long beard and a twinkle in his blue eyes. "Good afternoon, Mrs. Dursley. May we come in and have a word with you?"

"Who are you?" she demanded, already guessing by their attire.

"I am Albus Dumbledore." he said, introducing himself as he stepped into the house past a confounded Aunt Petunia. He gestured toward the other who had followed him. "This is Cornelius Fudge. He represents our magical government. We are here to have a word with you and young Mr. Potter about tomorrow's arrangements."

Mrs. Dursley was too surprised to make a coherent response and Dumbledore took the opportunity to speak to Harry who was standing in the hallway studying the new visitors. "Hello, Harry." Dumbledore said kindly. "I'm going to be your Headmaster at Hogwarts."

"He will not be attending that school!" Aunt Petunia declared angrily.

"What?" Minister Fudge exclaimed. "Harry Potter not attend Hogwarts! The idea is preposterous! I must say . . ."

Dumbledore interrupted Fudge with a gesture of his hand and spoke to Petunia firmly, but not unkindly. "I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter. The Potter's will directed and provided for Harry's attendance at Hogwarts. Furthermore, Harry has already accepted and signed up to attend."

Petunia stared at Harry in shock. "When did you do this?" she angrily demanded.

Harry was on the hotspot now. He could hardly confess that some girl had shown up out of nowhere and taken care of things, not in front of Dumbledore, not yet. "Er . . . I didn't let you see the letter. I took care of things myself."

Dumbledore looked like he wanted to ask Harry about this, but Fudge interrupted. "So it's all settled. Young Mr. Potter is signed up for Hogwarts. We just came by to let you know that we'll be sending a car to pick him up tomorrow morning in time for him to board the train at Kings Cross." He looked at Harry. "Good luck with your studies, Mr. Potter."

Fudge turned to leave, but Dumbledore wasn't finished. "Do you have all your school things, Harry?"

"Yes, I got them from Diagon Alley."

There was a pause and then Dumbledore nodded. "Very well. Cornelius, if you're done here, we might as well move on."

"Right, Headmaster." Fudge said.

They left and Harry evacuated the house as well, not wanting to deal with the Dursleys. They weren't going to be happy now that they knew he was going to Hogwarts. Ginny had been right about them checking up on him. He pondered over the things that Ginny had said about the two men and tried to match them to the men he had just met. His thoughts then turned to Hogwarts and he began to excitedly contemplate the morrow's adventures.


End file.
